US airline companies are expecting an increase in the number of travelers to Japan, as the country will lift the daily entry cap on arrivals on Tuesday.

United Airlines will add 13 percent more seats to flights arriving at and departing from airports around Tokyo from next month.

It will start a daily service between Narita, east of Tokyo, and Houston instead of the current four days a week.

The airline will also use bigger aircraft for flights between Tokyo and major US cities, including New York and Los Angeles.

The Japan National Tourism Organization says 1.72 million US citizens visited Japan in 2019.

The number was the fifth largest after China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Doreen Burse is in charge of worldwide sales at United Airlines. She told NHK that passenger demand is picking up quickly in countries that have eased entry restrictions, such as Singapore and Australia. But demand in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding mainland China and Hong Kong, is still around 60 percent of the 2019 level.

Burse added that United Airlines views Japan as an important market, and the carrier hopes demand for travel to the country will also increase.